SQL server error 772 often triggers while an application or ODBC connects to SQL server. The major reasons for the error are to the use of old ODBC driver and encryption methods of the client.

As a part of our Server Management Services, we help our Customers to fix SQL related errors regularly.

Today we’ll take a look at the cause for this error and how to fix it.

What causes SQL server error 772?

As updated earlier the SQL error 772 is triggered when an application or ODBC connects to SQL server. A typical error message looks like:

This error can trigger due to a variety of reasons ranging from using old ODBC drivers to viruses in the system. The two common reasons that are noted include:

• The administrator is using the older ‘SQL Server’ ODBC driver
• Force Protocol Encryption in client

Let us now look at each of these and the tips to fix them.

How to fix SQL server error 772

The most common reason for this error is the use of an ODBC driver that requires TLS 1.0. Most of the browsers have officially removed the support for TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1. This is primarily because these older versions of the protocols have known exploits.

One of the fixes would be to re-enable the TLS 1.0 on the servers. However, this is not recommended due to security reasons.

To switch TLS 1.0 in the registry, we need to open the registry setting and go to the following location in the server where SQL Server is running.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.0

To enable the TLS version change the value in the enabled file to 1. similarly, changing it to 0 will disable it.

The issue with SQL Server ODBC driver incompatible with higher versions of TLS mainly happens while using older SQL Server ODBC driver. Thus an alternative method to fix this error would be to upgrade the SQL Server ODBC driver to a latest version.

Issues with enabling Force Protocol Encryption option

Clients that have the Force Protocol Encryption option set ON may fail to connect to SQL Server if they specify an IP address for the server name.

The solution here would be to use the server name to connect to SQL Server. We can use the SQL Server Client Network Utility to set up an alias for the SQL server. Alternatively, we could also implement name resolution by using WINS, DNS, or LMHOST file so that we can connect by server name.

Another solution here would be to turn the Force Protocol Encryption option to ON on the server as well. It can be performed using the SQL Server Network Utility. We will need to install a certificate on the server on turning on the encryption on the server and all clients must connect using encryption

Apart from the major reasons mentioned above, SQL error 772 can also happen due to viruses present in the system. Thus it would be a good idea to perform system scans to detect the presence of viruses.

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Conclusion

In short, SQL server error 772 occurs due to many reasons. It includes the use of an old ODBC driver or force protocol encryption method of the client. Today, we saw how our Support Engineers fix this error.